He points out that he earned a lot of money doing missions abroad, and asserts that at the Embassy in France he earned 14,000 euros
MADRID, 2 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The General of the Civil Guard Francisco Espinosa, investigated in the ‘Mediator’ case, justified before the judge the discovery in the search of his home of more than 61,000 euros in cash, pointing out that they were the savings accumulated throughout his life. “I have earned a lot of money in my professional life,” he pointed out, thus denying that they have an illegal origin.
During the interrogation of magistrate María de los Ángeles Lorenzo-Cáceres on February 16, to whose recording Europa Press has had access, the general recounts that throughout his career he made money because he began to do missions abroad early, in 1993.
The former commander of the Civil Guard recounted that he was, for example, in Sarajevo in 1997, then he took a General Staff course in Paris and that between 2004 and 2008 he worked at the Spanish Embassy in France, where “I earned a lot of money”: “I started with 9,000 euros and I ended up with 14,000 euros”.
The general, continuing with his explanation to the judge, noted that he and his wife decided to “collect cash at home” because they always wanted to have between 15,000 and 20,000 euros. And he added that after his father died in 2016 he sold his apartment and the buyer paid them part in cash, 12,000 euros or 14,000 euros, which they also proceeded to keep at home.
Continuing with his accounts, Espinosa explained during the interrogation that when the coronavirus pandemic broke out he and his wife thought “the world was going to end” and that is why he took between 10,000 and 12,000 euros from the bank to keep them at home.
He added to this, “to complete the sum”, that he bought a Rolex brand watch on request in January 2022 for 14,000 euros at the Rabat jewelry store in Madrid by transfer. He pointed out that since it was for a friend, he gave him more than 17,000 euros in cash for him. Money that he again ended up keeping at home.
After this explanation, the judge asked him about a loan he made to his son of 29,000 euros, which he confirmed stating that he made a transfer from his checking account. And he added that his houses, three in total, he has been buying throughout his life.
In the order by which the judge agreed to his imprisonment without bail, he pointed out that the general was found at his home in Madrid bundles of 50 and 200 euro bills for an amount of 61,110 euros “of illegal origin”. Those bills were kept partly in a shoe box in the closet of his house, and partly wrapped in garments.
In the registry, four documents were also found that reflect certain amounts in tables “in what appears to be a domestic control of income and expenses.” He added the car that called the attention that a column had the title of ‘cash’ “and even more the amounts expressed”. “Thus, it seems that Espinosa registered his A and B accounts,” says the magistrate, to clarify that this “would increase the incriminating burden” against the general.
